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Ma Clique
}| }/Lore}} The Ma Clique, also known as Xibei San Ma, is a state consisting of the territories ruled by the Ma family of warlords in Northwestern China. As with most warlord cliques, it recognizes the Qing Empire as the legitimate government of China. The Ma Clique is bordered by Mongolia to the north, the Xinjiang Clique to the west, the Tibet to the southwest, the Sichuan Clique to the south, and the Shanxi Clique and the central government of the Qing Empire to the east. History The Three Ma Families of the Northwest, sometimes known as Xibei San Ma, has had a strong rule over the province of Qinghai, Gansu, and Ningxia ever since the 1880s. The Xinhai Revolution in 1912 resulted in the Mas, lead by a member of the first family Ma Anliang, deciding to side with the Kuomintang of China. However, the Ma Clique was not really particularly loyal to any government and primarily wished to continue its rules over the Northwest first and foremost. As a quick and easy way to prevent officials from thinking the Mas were disloyal, Anliang ordered all banners be changed from "Long, Long, Long, Live the reigning Emperor", with "Long live the Republic of China". Ma Anliang would end up dying in 1918, with the first family falling out of grace not long after his death. Ma Qi of the second family was the new head of the Ma Clique. Ma Qi focused a lot more on developing the clique itself, while a lot of foreign affairs were left to his friend from the third family, Ma Fuxiang. Fuxiang had many ties with the Zhili Clique and Wu Peifu in particular and was considered strongly aligned with them, thus dragging the rest of the Clique into alignment. 1925 saw the beginning of the Anti-Fengtian War, where Feng Yuxiang and his Guominjun tried to expel Fengtian out of Beijing. Ma Fuxiang sent his son Ma Hongkui to go and assist Feng Yuxiang with the ruse of trying to stay on good terms with all of China. However, Ma Hongkui would betray Feng Yuxiang which contributed to his defeat in 1926. The Northern Expedition beginning in May left the Mas politically deadlocked. The entire clique was stuck in a debate between people who believed that German intervention in the Northern Expedition was inevitable, which would result in a Zhili victory, or people who thought German intervention was unlikely, resulting in a Kuomintang victory. Fuxiang and his family along with Ma Qi's own son Ma Bufang believed in the Zhili while Ma Qi and some of his family believed in the Kuomintang. Fuxiang's camp proved to be right, with Germany beginning an intervention and the Zhili quickly gaining the advantage. Officially declaring loyalty to the Zhili four months later, Qi's popularity dropped along with the part of the second family on his side, with Bufang being left one of the few popular individuals of the second family. Ma Qi officially resigned in March of 1929 with Fuxiang becoming governor of Qinghai and official leader of the entire Ma Clique. Conflict broke out between the Sichuan Clique and Tibet over the Xikang region, greatly disturbing the peace Fuxiang had set up in Northwest China. Fuxiang was known to be sympathetic against the Tibetans once Tibet showed signs for moving towards the Tibetans in Qinghai as well. Fuxiang's intervention was largely successful, with Tibet only being able to keep Western Xikang to keep them appeased, resulting in relations smoothing over afterwards. Fuxiang has been very influential, notably aiding the Qing gain legitimacy while keeping a close eye on Shanxi due to them not being on good relations with Feng Yuxiang lying within the territory. Due to a heart attack in 1933, Rumours of Fuxiang's health being on the decline has been spreading recently, with his age almost reaching 60. While he hasn't officially chosen an heir for governorship, there are rumours he intends to pull the second family out of despair and make one of them the new governor. Politics Laws and Government: Conscription Law: Limited Conscription Economic Law: Limited Exports Trade Law: Partial Mobilization Head of Government: Ma Fuxiang Foreign Minister: Ma Bufang Economy Minister: Ma Hongbin Minister of Interior: Ma Hongkui Military While the Ma Clique does not officially have one individual leading the area, the general proceedings are majorly run in Xining, Qinghai. The governor of Qinghai is the representative of all of the many local governors within the clique. This has resulted in the Ma Clique being one of the more divided cliques in the era, with dozens of local governors each with their own agendas looking out for themselves before the Qinghai government. This has resulted at times where the Ma's have a hard time raising an army during times of disruption and crisis due to the local governors not sending troops to the Qinghai government. The most notable of these occurrences was during Ma Qi's rule over the region. Ma Qi's rule was solid until the Manchu Restoration of 1926, which resulted failing to raise any troops to defend the clique since none of the governors wanted to provide to the army due to his alignment as a Kuomintang supporter. Ma Fuxiang, after Ma Qi's resignation as Governor of Qinghai, has been much more careful to appease the local governors. He does this through launching multiple expeditions to the Tibetans in Qinghai in order to raise confidence of his rule, ensuring the governors that his army is worth contributing towards. However, Fuxiang has been less active in raising morale as he used to ever since his heart attack in '33 but has still managed to keep the governors loyal to him due to his general charisma. Whether this will stay when someone new ascends to power is yet to be seen. Foreign Relations Friendly relations with The Qing, Sichuan, and Xinjiang. Improved relations with Flanders-Wallonia due to Fuxiang protecting Catholic missionaries in the area. Mixed relations with Tibet due to the Tibetan population in Qinghai and interference in the Sichuan-Tibetan War. Relations have slowly smoothed due to Fuxiang's efforts for peace. Unfriendly relations with Shanxi due to Hongkui's betrayal of Feng Yuxiang in the Anti-Fengtian War. Declared hostility against Mongolia as long as it's under Roman von Ungern-Sternberg. Economy WIP Culture WIP See also *Qing Empire *Tibet *Sichuan Clique *Shanxi Clique *Xinjiang Clique Category:Countries Category:Asian countries Category:Chinese-related topics